Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
Customer Service Standard
It’s the law!
It’s good business!
It’s everyone’s business!
The AODA
Accessibility Service Standard
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Introduction and background information
The purpose of the Standard
The requirements of the Standard
Living our values: interacting with
a) people with disabilities
b) people’s assistive devices
c) service animals
d) support persons
Living our values: what we do when we see a person
having difficulty accessing TOH goods & services
Resources available to help people access our goods &
services
People with disabilities:
some context
Disability: a much more common and natural human
experience than many think!
•Often we quickly imagine a disability which is primarily physical, visible and
severe. Yet these popular « default settings » can be misleading. Disabilities are
much more varied and wide-spread than our « first impressions »
•The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are about 600 million
people with disabilities in the world.
•In the U.S.A., estimates vary from 45 to 54 million people with disabilities.
•In Canada, the 2006 PALS survey indicates about 4.4 million Canadians with
disabilities.
•These numbers will only increase as populations age.
•The likelihood of disability increases with age and in addition, we use health care
services more as we age.
•Increasing accessibility to Health Care for all citizens is therefore both timely and
urgent.
Inclusion and participation in context:
some milestones
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
1985 Canadian Human Rights Act
2001 Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA)
2005 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
2008 Accessibility Standards for Customer Service,
Ontario Regulation 429/07
Future: 4 Other Accessibility Standards to come…
Some background information
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“The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) is a law in
Ontario that allows the government to develop specific standards of accessibility
and to enforce them”.
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“The standards require public and private sector organizations to identify, remove,
and prevent barriers for people with disabilities in 5 key areas:
goods and services, information and communication, employment, the
built environment and transportation on or before January 1, 2025.
•
Ontario’s accessible customer service standard became law on January 1, 2008.
It creates legal obligations for all who provides goods or services to the public.
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Designated public sector organizations must demonstrate compliance
by Jan. 1, 2010.
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All other service providers (e.g. private businesses, non-profit organizations) must
demonstrate compliance by Jan. 1, 2012
Barriers
A barrier is anything that stops or makes it
difficult for a person to participate in society or
access goods or services
There are many kinds of barriers experienced by
people. They can include: physical,
architectural, informational, technological,
communication, systemic (policies, practices or
procedures) and attitudinal/behavioural.
 Barriers do not have to be intentional, visible or
considerable to exclude people.
 Even unintentional, invisible and “minor” barriers still
exclude and prevent people’s participation.
Purpose of the Standard
“Recognizing the history of discrimination
against persons with disabilities in Ontario,
the purpose of this Act
is to benefit all Ontarians by…
developing, implementing and enforcing
accessibility standards
in order to achieve accessibility for
Ontarians with disabilities…”
to ensure that citizens with disabilities can
access, use and benefit from
TOH goods and services
Requirements
In order to comply, we must:
1)
Establish policies, practices and procedures on providing
goods or services to people with disabilities
2)
Demonstrate reasonable efforts to ensure that our
policies, practices and procedures are consistent with the
core principles of dignity, independence, integration,
and equality of opportunity.
3)
Develop a policy dealing with people’s use of their own
personal assistive devices to access our goods or
services or other measures that TOH offers to enable
them to access the goods or services.
4)
Communicate with people with disabilities in a manner
that takes into account the person’s disability.
Requirements
In order to comply, we must:
5)
Let people with disabilities bring their service animals
onto parts of the premises open to the public or other
third parties except where the animal is excluded by law.
6)
Let people with disabilities be accompanied by their
support persons while on the premises open to the public
or other third parties
7)
Provide notice when facilities or services that people with
disabilities usually use to access goods or services are
temporarily disrupted.
8)
Train everyone who interacts with the public (all staff,
volunteers) as well as those people responsible for
developing policies, practices and procedures on topics
outlined in the Customer Service Standard.
Requirements
In order to comply, we must:
9)
Establish a process for receiving and responding to
feedback about the way we provide goods or services to
people with disabilities, including what action will be
taken if complaints are received, and make this
information about the process readily available and
accessible to the public.
10)
In addition, designated public sector organizations and
other providers with 20 or more employees must:
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
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document in writing their policies, practices and
procedures for providing accessible service to people
with disabilities
let customers know that the documents are available
upon request and
upon request, provide the information to a person with a
disability in a format that takes into account their
disability
Demonstrating our values
•Compassion
•Commitment to quality
•Working together
•Respect
Demonstrating our values
Some general tips…
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Refer to a person’s disability only when it is relevant. People are not their
diagnosis or disability!
•
Avoid stereotypes and assumptions about what a person can/cannot do!
Ask the person what he/she is able to do and/or what devices or supports
(accommodations) they might use to better access our goods and services.
•
If you are not sure what to do, ASK the person « May I help you? » People
with disabilities know if they need help and how you can provide it.
•
Make an effort to learn about appropriate language and terminology to use
when referring to people with disabilities
Refer to TOH Accessibility Guide for more tips
Interacting and communicating with
people with mobility disabilities
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Place yourself at eye level when speaking for more than a minute or so
with someone using a wheelchair or a scooter
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Ask permission before you begin to help. People have developed their
own and safe ways of doing things.
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Respect the person’s personal space.
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Do not touch assistive devices without
permission and wait for the person’s instructions.
Interacting and communicating with
people with vision loss
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Address the person by name and identify yourself and
your role. Always identify yourself and ask permission
before touching the person.
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Remember: few people with vision loss are totally blind.
Most have some residual vision and work with that vision
to be as independent as possible.
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If guiding a person, offer to orient them to your elbow.
Wait for permission to lead. Do not pull.
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Inform the person by describing any procedures such as
the administration of medication, physical examinations,
transportation needs, personal hygiene, etc.
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If you need to leave the person, inform him/her you are
leaving and will be back. Do not leave him/her in the
middle of a room. Show him/her to a chair or guide them
to a comfortable location.
Interacting and communicating with people who
are Deaf, oral deaf, deafened, or hard of hearing
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Look at and speak directly to the person. Make sure
you are in a well-lighted area where the person can
see your face. Maintain eye contact.
•
Address the person; not the support person or the
interpreter.
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Speak slowly and clearly. Do not shout.
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Ask the person what is their preferred communication
method. Remember: not everyone is comfortable
using a pen and paper, or reading lips.
•
Provide clear and precise instructions and repeat if
necessary. Confirm that the person understands you.
•
Arrange for a sign language interpreter when a person
indicates they prefer speaking ASL or LSQ.
Interacting and communicating with people with
communication difficulties or disabilities
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Do not assume that difficulty speaking means
difficulty thinking!
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Ask the person to repeat the information if you do
not understand.
•
Look at the person you are talking to and pay
attention.
•
If you are having difficulty, ask questions that can
be answered by ‘yes’ or ‘no’ if possible.
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Do not interrupt or finish the person’s sentences.
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People with communication disabilities may use a
communication board, paper and pen, speech
generating device, or a support person.
Interacting and communicating with people
with intellectual disabilities
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Do not assume what a person can or cannot do.
•
Use simple words and short sentences.
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Make sure that the person understands what you’ve said. Ask
him/her to review the information with you or demonstrate that
he/she understands
•
Written instructions may be useful.
•
Give one piece of information at a time.
•
Speak directly to the person, while acknowledging a support person
who may be with him/her. Ensure that the person accompanying
the patient understands.
Interacting and communicating with people
who have mental health disabilities
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A person dealing with a mental health disability
may have difficulty with thinking clearly,
hallucinations, depression or mood swings,
concentration, remembering, motivation, etc.
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If a person is having difficulty controlling their
symptoms or anxiety, remain calm. Ask them how
you can best help.
•
Treat any person with a mental health disability
with the same respect and consideration you have
for everyone else
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Be confident and reassuring. Listen carefully and
work with them to meet their needs.
Interacting with people’s assistive devices
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Some examples of common assistive devices
include: Teletypewriter (TTY), hearing aid,
magnifier, FM transmitter system, mobility
canes, communication board, walker,
glasses, wheelchair, scooter, etc.
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People’s personal devices are expensive and
critical to their independence. Demonstrate
the same care and respect for their device
as you do for the person.
•
Do not touch assistive devices without
permission.
•
Do not remove or move a person’s
equipment out of the person’s reach without
their knowledge.
•
Be responsible and accountable for the
devices if they must be separated from the
person: e.g. removing hearing aids for a
test or surgery.
Interacting with people using service animals
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Remember: a service animal is not a pet. It
is a working animal.
•
Do not touch, distract or speak to service
animals without permission from their owner.
•
Do not be offended if the person does not
want to talk about their service animal. Your
focus is on the person; not their animal.
•
The person is responsible for the care and
supervision of their service animal.
•
If you wish to offer assistance, ask “how may
I help?”
Interacting with support persons
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A support person can be anyone hired or
chosen to accompany a person with a disability
to assist with communication, mobility,
personal care, medical needs, etc.
•
The person may/may not introduce their
support person. If you are unsure who the
person is or their role, simply ask.
•
Address yourself to the person with the
disability; not to their support person.
We care...and it shows!
A person’s difficulty = our opportunity to CARE!
Ask permission:
“May I help you?
Ask for details:
“How may I help you?
Listen carefully to the person’s instructions.
Clarify if unsure what to do or how to help.
Speak directly to the person; not to a support
person
Know what resources, equipment and services
we offer to enhance people’s access to and
experience of TOH goods and services.
Some resources and assistive devices which
support and enhance people’s access
Conclusion
ACCESSing health care at TOH…
It’s YOUR business!
It’s OUR business!
For even more tips and resources
consult the
TOH Accessibility Guide